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Rating all 22 Tour de France teams on paper
The Tour de France is here. Teams are announced and ready. All 22 of them have varying ambitions over the next three weeks, from general classification hopes to stage wins only. Let’s see who wants what and judge how well they’re set up for it…
Alpecin-Deceuninck
The Alpecin-Deceuninck squad line up for stage hunting with leaders Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen. They say should this go well, Jasper Philipsen ‘could have another shot’ at the green jersey. There’s no doubt Philipsen will be thinking about defending his maillot vert with a challenge from Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) among others. The Belgian won four stages last year in the process and feels like a lock for a sprint stage or two this year – should he avoid any dangerous moves and relegation in the process.
The team balances a mix of seasoned pros with Tour de France debutants in Axel Laurance, Robbe Ghys and Gianni Vermeersch.
- Full team: Silvan Dillier, Robbe Ghys, Søren Kragh Andersen, Axel Laurance, Jasper Philipsen, Jonas Rickaert, Mathieu van der Poel, Gianni Vermeersch
- Rating: 7.5/10
Arkea-B&B Hotels
Arkea-B&B Hotels also have the goal of winning a stage on the biggest stage of all. They hope Arnaud Démare will be the man to do so, with a leadout train of Amaury Capiot, Luca Mozzato and Dan McLay.
But away from Démare, riders will have ‘carte blanche’ on targeted stages to maximise chances of a stage win. This Tour de France will be a learning experience for debutants Kévin Vauquelin and Raúl García.
- Full team: Amaury Capiot, Clément Champoussin, Arnaud Démare, Raúl García, Dan McLay, Luca Mozzato, Cristian Rodriguez, Kévin Vauquelin
- Rating: 6/10
Astana Qazaqstan
We’re all thinking it. Will Mark Cavendish win #35 to hold the record of most stage victories at the Tour outright? It was harrowing to see how his hunt for victory ended last year after coming so, so close on Stage 7 when his gears slipped at a critical moment before crashing out on an innocuous stretch of road the next day. The shot of him staring into the distance in the back of the ambulance is seared into my brain. For that was, of course, meant to be his last Tour de France.
But Cavendish has unfinished business and wants to complete this chapter on his own terms. He re-signed on a one-year deal with Michael Mørkøv in tow, an important addition for Astana’s lacking leadout train. The duo have an incredible amount of experience together, with Mørkøv leading out Cavendish to victory most recently at the 2021 Tour de France, where the Dane helped position Cavendish perfectly for four stage wins.
Astana also take Davide Ballerini, Cees Bol and Alexey Lutsenko.
- Full team: Davide Ballerini, Cees Bol, Mark Cavendish, Yevgeniy Fedorov, Michele Gazzoli, Alexey Lutsenko, Michael Mørkøv, Harold Tejada
- Rating: 7/10
Bahrain Victorious
Stage success was the name of the game for Bahrain Victorious in 2023, with three different winners in Pello Bilbao, Wout Poels and Matej Mohorič. Now they have an eye on GC, with debutant 24-year-old Santiago Buitrago as the key man for the upcoming Tour de France. Its start in Italy will be more familiar for Buitrago, who has won two stages at the Giro d’Italia and will be supported by Bilbao, Poels and Mohorič.
Despite making his debut, Buitrago is no rookie. In 2023 after a podium finish at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he finished 13th overall at the Giro d’Italia with victory on a mountainous Stage 19 atop the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. He cracked the top ten at the Vuelta a España too. Buitrago arrives at the Tour de France with consistent top ten finishes throughout the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Jack Haig and Fred Wright are expected to hunt stages when the opportunity arises while Nikias Arndt is the final leadout man for sprinter Phil Bauhaus.
- Full team: Nikias Arndt, Phil Bauhaus, Pello Bilbao, Santiago Buitrago, Jack Haig, Matej Mohorič, Wout Poels, Fred Wright
- Rating: 8/10
Cofidis
Cofidis ended a 15-year win drought in the Tour de France last year thanks to the breakaway exploits of Victor Lafay. He won’t be here this year, but they’ll take the beloved Bryan Coquard – who recently won at the Tour de Suisse – Simon Geschke, whose stage victory at the 2015 Tour de France is still embedded in my consciousness, and Guillaume Martin.
Like always, Cofidis will be looking for stages at their home Grand Tour and also bring Spanish duo Jesús Herrada and Ion Izagirre, the latter also victorious on Stage 12 at the last Tour de France. You wait 15 years for a win…
- Full team: Piet Allegaert, Bryan Coquard, Simon Geschke, Jesús Herrada, Ion Izagirre, Guillaume Martin, Alexis Renard, Axel Zingle
- Rating: 6.5/10
Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
Decathlon-AG2R have been flying this season with 25 victories so far, a fact that ultimately coincides with the ditching of the iconic brown bibs and the majority of which comes from Benoît Cosnefroy (7), Sam Bennett (5), and Paul Laperia (4). They have mixed ambitions, supporting Felix Gall on GC while hoping for ‘at least’ one stage win that could come from Bennett, Lapeira or Dorian Gordon .
After four long years, Bennett returns to the Tour de France after winning four stages of the six-stage 4 Jours de Dunkerque (I know) while Cosnefroy will miss his home race to focus on the home Olympics.
- Full team: Bruno Armirail, Sam Bennett, Felix Gall, Dorian Godon, Paul Lapeira, Oliver Naesen, Nans Peters, Nicolas Prodhomme
- Rating: 7/10
EF Education-EasyPost
EF Education-EasyPost have had a less-than-ideal build-up to the Tour de France. They fired Andrea Piccolo after he was stopped by Italian authorities ‘on suspicion of transporting human growth hormone’ into the country.
Their Tour de France team includes Alberto Bettiol, Nielson Powless, Ben Healy and Stefan Bisegger, who are aiming for stages, and they’re taking Richard Carapaz who could do well on GC. He has admitted his form will ‘arrive late’ after being withdrawn early from the Tour de Suisse following a crash.
Keep an eye on Bettiol early on, as the newly crowned Italian Champion will depart from home roads in Florence.
- Full team: Alberto Bettiol, Stefan Bissegger, Richard Carapaz, Rui Costa, Ben Healy, Neilson Powless, Seann Quinn, Marijn van den Berg
- Rating: 8/10
Groupama-FDJ
A Tour de France without Thibaut Pinot. Pain. The French squad bring 20-year-old debutant Lenny Martinez, who led the Vuelta a España for two days last year, to support David Gaudu in the mountains, alongside Valentin Madouas and Stefan Küng.
- Full team: David Gaudu, Kevin Geniets, Romain Grégoire, Stefan Küng, Valentin Madouas, Lenny Martinez, Quentin Pacher, Clément Russo
- Rating: 7/10
Ineos Grenadiers
I’m really looking forward to seeing how Carlos Rodríguez gets on at this Tour de France. The Tour de Romandie winner will be one of two leaders for Ineos Grenadiers alongside Egan Bernal, who suffered a life-threatening crash on a training ride in 2022, breaking 20 bones.
Rodríguez also climbed to a second place overall at the Tour of the Basque Country this season and, at 23 years old, is still developing as a rider. He might not be in the ‘big four’ discussion, but he’s still a big name to follow.
The Ineos Grenadiers squad are not the dominating Team Sky they once were but have still achieved Grand Tour success under their current guise with Bernal and Geraint Thomas, and have experienced riders in Michał Kwiatkowski and Jonathan Castroviejo. Tom Pidcock should also be entertaining to watch given his devilish descending as fellow cyclocrossing Brit Ben Turner starts his second Tour.
- Full team: Egan Bernal, Jonathan Castroviejo, Laurens de Plus, Michał Kwiatkowski, Tom Pidcock, Carlos Rodríguez, Geraint Thomas, Ben Turner
- Rating: 8.5/10
Intermarché-Wanty
Stage wins are in sight for Intermarché-Wanty, headlined by Biniam Girmay. The Eriteran became the first African winner of a one-day classic in Gent-Wevelgem in 2022 and his star has been rising ever since. At 22 years old, he was the first Black rider to win a Grand Tour stage at the 2022 Giro d’Italia, though celebrations were soon ended after the cork from the podium Prosecco went into his eye.
Girmay will be looking to turn his fortune around after abandoning the Giro early on Stage 4 this season. He’s joined by Louis Meintjes, Le Samyn winner Laurenz Rex, Mike Teunissen and Gerben Thijssen.
- Full team: Biniam Girmay, Kobe Goossens, Louis Meintjes, Hugo Page, Laurenz Rex, Mike Teunissen, Gerben Thijssen, Georg Zimmermann
- Rating: 6/10
Israel-Premier Tech
If a breakaway opportunity arises I’m looking at you, Derek Gee. The man who helped light up the 2023 Giro d’Italia with attacks and second places galore is about to make his Tour de France debut after a breakthrough performance at the Dauphiné. Fellow Canadian Hugo Houle is alongside him, already a Tour stage winner in 2022, as is British duo Jake Stewart and Stephen Williams.
Fast man Pascal Ackermann is looking to the flatter stages for the sprints.
- Full team: Pascal Ackermann, Guillaume Bovin, Jakob Fuglsang, Derek Gee, Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands, Jake Stewart, Stephen Williams
- Rating: 7/10
Lidl-Trek
Lidl-Trek had to switch their Tour de France plans after expected leader Tao Geoghegan Hart crashed out of the Criterium du Dauphiné and then caught Covid. They’ve bolstered their support for Mads Pedersen in the hope of stage victories and bring Giulio Ciccone as well, who won the polka dot jersey last year and previously wore the maillot jaune in 2019.
- Full team: Julien Bernard, Giulio Ciccone, Tim Declercq, Ryan Gibbons, Mads Pedersen, Toms Skujins, Jasper Stuyven, Carlos Verona
- Rating: 8/10
Lotto Dstny
Newly crowned Belgian champion Arnaud de Lie is making his debut at the Tour de France and arrives with no pressure or expectations. It had been a rough start to the year for De Lie after being diagnosed with Lyme disease, but he won his first race back at the Famenne Ardenne Classic.
Maxim van Gils also makes the squad for his second appearance in the race. He has had a brilliant year so far, podiuming at Strade Bianche and La Flèche Wallonne, as well as finishing fourth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and seventh at Milan-San Remo. The resilient Victor Campenaerts also starts.
- Full team: Cédric Beullens, Victor Campenaerts, Arnaud de Lie, Jarrad Drizners, Sébastien Grignard, Maxim van Gils, Brent van Moer, Harm Vanhoucke
- Rating: 7/10
Movistar
Eric Mas is Movistar’s leader as the squad look to attack the general classification while keeping options open for stage wins in their 42nd participation of the Tour de France. Mas has not had the best of luck at the race, abandoning with Covid in 2022 and breaking his shoulder on the opening stage in 2023. His best result has been fifth in 2020. He’ll be joined by Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne podium-maker and former Spanish road race champion Oier Lazkano, as well as Davide Formolo.
Fernando Gaviria makes his return after a six-year absence from the race.
- Full team: Alex Aranburu, Davide Formolo, Fernando Gaviria, Oier Lazkano, Enric Mas, Gregor Mühlberger, Nelson Oliveira, Javier Romo
- Rating: 7/10
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
This will be Primož Roglič’s first Tour de France since departing Jumbo-Visma at the end of 2023, with whom he won three editions of the Vuelta a España and one Giro d’Italia. The Tour de France has evaded him – thanks to a pesky rider named Tadej Pogačar – and he will begin these three weeks as the sole leader at the newly named Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
They have a strong team to help his efforts, with 2022 Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley and superdomestique Aleksandr Vlasov.
- Full team: Nico Denz, Marco Haller, Jai Hindley, Bob Jungels, Primož Roglič, Matteo Sobrero, Danny van Poppel, Alexsandr Vlasov
- Rating: 9/10
Soudal-QuickStep
Remco Evenepoel is making his Tour de France debut at long last. The 2022 Vuelta a España winner had early success this season at the Volta ao Algarve but was involved in the same Itzulia Basque Country crash as Vingegaard, breaking his shoulder.
The 24-year-old maintained his focus on the Tour de France and recently finished seventh overall at the Critérium du Dauphiné with a stage victory too. He’s ready and raring to go with the likes of Mikel Landa and Jan Hirt to help him; there are expectations of a strong showing on GC with a potential podium finish.
- Full team: Remco Evenepoel, Jan Hirt, Yves Lampaert, Mikel Landa, Gianni Moscon, Casper Pedersen, Ilan van Wilder, Louis Vervaeke
- Rating: 7/10
Team DSM-Firmenich-PostNL
This will be Romain Bardet’s final Tour de France. He’ll want to go out with a bang in his home race ideally with a stage win as he lines up alongside fellow Frenchman Warren Barguil.
DSM-Firmenich-PostNL will look to Fabio Jakobsen in the sprints. The Dutchman won a stage in 2022 but was forced to abandon last year after crashing early on; he has had a quiet season so far this year. He’ll receive support from John Degenkolb and Nils Eekhoff. Young duo Frank van den Broek and Oscar Onley will make their debuts in the race.
- Full team: Romain Bardet, Warren Barguil, John Degekolb, Nils Eekhoff, Fabio Jakobsen, Oscar Onley, Frank van den Broek, Bram Welten
- Rating: 7/10
Team Jayco-AlUla
Simon Yates is rumoured to be joining Visma-Lease a Bike next year, so this is likely his last shot at a maillot jaune with Jonas Vingegaard firmly the top dog over there. He was fourth overall last year behind Vingegaard and the UAE Team Emirates duo (Pogačar and Yates’s twin brother, Adam), and a podium spot is possible again.
But Jayco-AlUla will target stages as well with Dylan Groenewegen and Michael Matthews, the latter finishing second at Milan-San Remo this season.
- Full team: Luke Durbridge, Dylan Groenewegen, Chris Harper, Christopher Juul-Jensen, Michael Matthews, Luka Mezgec, Elmar Reinders, Simon Yates
- Rating: 8/10
Team Visma-Lease a Bike
One of the two strongest GC teams in the race, Visma-Lease a Bike want to win their third consecutive Tour de France title and pack the firepower to help Vingegaard do it. It has been a long road to the start line for the Dane, who faced a race against time to be fit after the Itzulia Basque Country crash left him with a broken collarbone and ribs, but sightings of him at the team’s last altitude camp in Tignes proved positive.
The same goes for Wout van Aert, who suffered multiple fractures at Dwars door Vlaanderen but has been building up fitness and returned to action at the Tour of Norway last month. They’re bolstered by Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson, as well as Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot and Jan Tratnik. Sepp Kuss was slated to start but has been ruled out with Covid, which could be their undoing as the current iteration of the team has never won a Grand Tour without the American.
- Full team: Tiesj Benoot, Matteo Jorgenson, Wilco Kelderman, Christophe Laporte, Bart Lemmen, Jan Tratnik, Wout van Aert, Jonas Vingegaard
- Rating: 10/10
TotalEnergies
Recipient of a Tour de France wildcard, French ProTeam TotalEnergies have a plethora of riders making their debut, including Thomas Gachignard and Mattéo Vercher. Steff Cras was another involved in the crash at the Itzulia Basque Country and suffered a perforated lung and broken rib, but has recovered in time for the Tour.
If there’s a breakaway, TotalEnergies will certainly be in it. Keep an eye on Anthony Turgis especially.
- Full team: Mathieu Burgaudeau, Steff Cras, Sandy Dujardin, Thomas Gachignard, Fabien Grellier, Jordan Jegat, Anthony Turgis, Mattéo Vercher
- Rating: 6/10
UAE Team Emirates
Here they are. The other strongest team in the peloton. UAE Team Emirates are the one to watch heading into the Tour de France with Tadej Pogačar primed to be the first man since Marco Pantani in 1998 to complete the Giro-Tour double. The 25-year-old dominated the Giro d’Italia on his debut, topping the general classification on 20 out of 21 stages (that Jhonatan Narváez breakaway was really something) and winning the maglia rosa by over ten minutes.
He’ll be alongside Adam Yates and João Almeida, 1-2 on the Tour de Suisse general classification respectively, Itzulia Basque Country winner Juan Ayuso, German ITT Champion Nils Politt, Belgian ITT Champion Tim Wellens, plus the experienced Marc Soler and Pavel Sivakov.
They’re all in on Pogačar to get his first maillot jaune since 2021.
- Full team: Joao Almeida, Juan Ayuso, Tadej Pogačar, Nils Politt, Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler, Tim Wellens, Adam Yates
- Rating: 10/10
Uno-X Mobility
The other Wildcard for the Tour de France, Uno-X have a knack for lighting up Grand Tours and getting into breakaways, and should be doing the same this year with stage wins in mind, potentially for Magnus Cort, Alexander Kristoff or both. Tobias Halland Johannessen particularly impressed last year in the mountains but has suffered setbacks this season with a couple of bad crashes. He makes the squad with an eye on the final week especially as climber Johannes Kulset is also lining up in Florence.
- Full team: Jonas Abrahamsen, Magnus Cort, Odd Christian Eiking, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Alexander Kristoff, Johannes Kulset, Rasmus Tiller, Søren Wærenskjold
- Rating: 8/10
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